Resident Evil: White Project
by Lordius Dannius
Summary: -ACCESS GRANTED- In 1996 an Umbrella scientist named Marshall White attempted to create a B.O.W. capable of returning to its original human form. His attempt failed. In 2000 two mercenaries from Chain, a PMC, were on a mission to take out an abandoned Veronica-virus project on Rockfort Island, only to find themselves unearthing the true terrors of "White Project". -GOAL: TERMINATE-
1. FILE 00

_**Resident Evil: White Project**_

 **~FILE 00~**

 _File / Doctor Marshall White_

 _Code name / "White Project"_

 _Result / FAILURE_

 _Report entries / 7_

 **-Entry 01: June 9th 1996-**

/Subject injected with t-virus sample.

Signs of physical transformation: change in build, skin tone, eye colour, tooth structure, weight(+) and height(+).

Signs of mental transformatione: lack of understanding, change in behaviour (subject appears to have gone savage) and lack of intellect.

Hypothesis: Injecting a subject with a modified form of the t-virus will create an enhanced human who can transform into a B.O.W. and revert back into human form at will./

 **-Entry 02: June 21st 1996-**

/Subject has been mutated for 12 days.

Signs of physical transformation: N/A

Signs of mental transformation: N/A

Hypothesis: A subject mutated with the t-virus is unable to reverse the effects of the mutation due to lack of intelligence./

 **-Entry 03: July 30th 1996-**

/Subject still mutated. Attempts to restore human intelligence failed.

Signs of physical transformation: N/A

Signs of mental transformation: N/A

Hypothesis: It is not possible to restore human intelligence to a B.O.W. therefore the subject cannot revert back to normal./

 **-Entry 04: August 26th 1996-**

/Virus samples show that it is impossible for brain power to reverse cell activity. Subject still mutated.

Signs of physical transformation: N/A

Signs of mental transformation: N/A

Hypothesis: Cell activity cannot be reversed even by a host with human intelligence./

[PROJECT FAILED]

 **-Entry 05: September 2nd 1996-**

/Subject has been secured. Research into anti-virus has begun.

Hypothesis: Cell activity can be reversed by other virus cells./

 **-Entry 06: October 15th 1999-**

/Anti-virus first tested on infected monkey. Cell activity reversed. Research into anti-virus collar has begun.

Hypothesis: B.O.W. can return to human form with assistance./

 **-Entry 07: October 16th 1999-**

/Subject injected with anti-virus and returned to normal. Research into creating enhanced human soldiers continued.

Signs of physical transformation: change in build, skin tone, eye colour, tooth structure, weight(-) and height(-).

Signs of mental transformation: increased understanding, change in behaviour (subject no longer acting on primitive instincts) and increased intellect.

Hypothesis: It is possible to create a B.O.W. which can successfully return to human form./

[PROJECT SUCCESS]

 _-No further entries-_

 _..._

May 25th 2000

 _ **Chain (PMC) Database**_

 _-ACCESS GRANTED-_

 _File / Candice Miller_

 **Name:** Candice Miller

 **Code name:** "Ginger"

 **Age:** 26

 **Number:** 5064

 **Service length:** 2 years

 _File / Lance Watson_

 **Name:** Lance Watson

 **Code name:** "Smoke"

 **Age:** 39

 **Number:** 5006

 **Service length:** 21 years

 _ **-[FILES SAVED]-**_


	2. FILE 01

**~FILE 01~**

 _ **May 25th 2000**_

 _ **-Location: Rockfort Island-**_

The weather could have been better. It was night time with clouds blocking the stars and rain pouring down heavily. The waves threw themselves into the rocks, rearing up like a startled horse before they exploded into white innards.

The small helicopter, carrying two mercenaries from the private military company known as Chain, was actually struggling to land on the abandoned island. The ride had been incredibly bumpy, but thankfully the helicopter was able to land safely on the rocks.

Out stepped the first mercenary. Her eyes were dark blue and her face was freckled, though these factors could not be pointed out in the current darkness. She had fiery ginger hair, shaved on the left side and swept over on the right to create a relatively long fringe. Overall, however, her hair was short. As for her attire, her left ear was pierced by two studs and she wore a dark green military jacket. With that she also wore a black zip-up shirt and combat trousers accompanied by heavy black boots, and to finish the look she wore a navy blue bandana around her neck.

Climbing out behind her was the second mercenary, who had just briefly exchanged words with the helicopter's pilot. He had told the pilot that their mission would be over quickly.

This man was older than the woman and his skin was not quite as pale. He had dark green eyes and dark brown hair which was naturally straight yet appeared uncared for, bangs almost hanging over his eyes. Like his associate his left ear was pierced, but only by a single silver ring. A light stubble was uppon his face, though it was starting to look a little more like a beard. His attire was not to different to his comrade's; he worse a black shirt and a dark green military jacket, though his had short sleeves. His dog tag was also on display. From the waist down he wore the exact same clothing as his female companion.

On the man's dog tag the name "Smoke" was engraved, thus meaing that the woman accompanying him was no other than "Ginger".

The pair, both armed with a handgun each, ran towards the island's prison. Over the sounds of the waves crashing and the helicopter's engine roaring they both knew that it was pointless to attempt being quiet until they were actually on prison ground.

The cacophonous sounds faded away as the two made their way onto the campus of Rockfort Prison. Silently, Smoke nodded at Ginger and Ginger nodded back in understanding. They both began to step cautiously, eyes peeled for any movement. Prior to arriving they had been informed of the outbreak which occurred here about a year ago and knew that their target was highly dangerous.

From what they had been told, their target was an experiment created by a man named Albert Wesker. He had taken the body of a deceased Veronica-virus host in order to obtain some samples of the virus, only to experiment with the carrier by using the infection to bring him back to life. Wesker had thus created an enhanced human.

Or, as Smoke liked to put it, an intellectual corpse.

As the duo wandered through the deserted prison, Ginger finally spoke up, though she made sure to remain quiet and wary.

"The place is in ruins," she noted. "If our target has been living on this rock for a few months then he would have most likely made a home of some sort in one of the buildings still intact."

"Yeah," Smoke agreed. "But we must be extremely cautious when entering any building; one bite from this guy could turn you into a mindless zombie."

Ginger caught sight of a door leading into what looked like a training facility. She approached it and held up her gun, her blue eyes locked on Smoke. Smoke slowly nodded his head, his own gun also at the ready, before he barged through the door. The two both pointed their handguns, ready to shoot at any deadly threat, but nothing was there. For a few seconds the pair remained tense, but once they had decided that nothing was in the area they lowered their weapons slightly.

"...Well, nothing in here," Smoke commented. Ginger glanced around, still feeling somewhat cautious, until from the corner of her eye she spotted movement. Before she could react, a figure sprinted up behind her and proceeded to choke her with an iron pipe. Ginger gasped for air, trying to reach back and shoot her attacker in the head, only to find the task hard when he kept moving out of her gun's line of fire.

Smoke had his own handgun aimed at the attacker - their target - but was unable to fire; there was a strong chance that he'd only end up shooting Ginger instead. The man bared his teeth in frustration.

However, Ginger dropped her gun and used both hands to grab onto the pipe, suddenly lunging her upper body forwards. With the red-haired young man now bent over her back and open to shoot at, Smoke was ready to fire. But he didn't. He predicted the next move his target would make.

The male let go of the pipe and caused Ginger to almost fall completely to the floor. He made an attempt to reach down and grab her gun, only to be met with an iron tube to the face. Ginger was quick to retrieve her handgun while her target was dazed, but the pale young man recovered just in time to dive onto the floor to dodge the bullet she fired. While on the ground he attempted to reclaim his iron pipe, only to have Ginger stomp on his hand. The red-headed male let out a yell of pain but managed to grab the pipe with his other hand, rolling over before jumping back to his feet. But the infected individual was not quick enough to react to Ginger firing a bullet into his shoulder. Letting out a wail of agony, the living corpse decided that perhaps it was best to flee. He tried to run through the facility into another room where he could lose the duo and perhaps find himself a better weapon to fight with, but his sprint was cut short by Smoke, who fired a bullet into his leg. The young male stumbled to the ground and let out yet another yell, both hands clutching his newest wound.

As he lay there, writhing in pain, Ginger and Smoke closed in. He tried to sit up, only to find himself staring down Smoke's handgun. He heard the sound of the gun clicking and knew that Smoke was ready to fire, but there was nothing he could do now.

Getting a better view of his target, Smoke could see that this young man was actually just a teenager. He wore a filthy, torn green prison uniform (shirt and shorts) which seemed a little too baggy for him. His skin was incredibly pale, and down the sides of his neck there were dark green veins which clearly showed that he was indeed infected by a virus. But his most notable feature was his eyes. The irises were a mixture of scarlet and golden and seemed to glow in the dark. He was definitely no ordinary human. At least, not anymore.

The boy's golden eyes stared at the gun before he slowly lowered his head, staring at the ground beneath him and silently but reluctantly accepting his defeat.

Smoke had been in many situations like this, and every single time he was able to pull the trigger without remorse. But he was taking longer than usual to shoot the boy before him; he was a _boy._ Not only that, but right now it was easy for his target to lunge forward and bite his wrist, yet instead he was accepting his defeat.

"...What's your name, kid?" Smoke suddenly spoke up. Ginger stared at him with wide, confused and irritated eyes. The boy before him also seemed surprised, his eyes widening, but he didn't look up at Smoke and his expression quickly returned to being relatively solemn.

"What does it matter...?" he responded quietly. Smoke cocked a brow, but understood the thoughts running through the individual's mind right now. As someone who was about to die like this, with nobody out there who knew who he was, there was no point for him to reveal his name. It was better for him to die nameless.

"You're about to die," Smoke reminded. "And from what I already know, there aren't many people out there who care about you considering you're a reanimated corpse. At least if I knew your name then you could be remembered by somebody for a little while."

There was a brief silence before the teen replied to Smoke with, "I'd rather not be remembered by someone like you."

"...Hmph," was what Smoke said in response. "Well, I tried to be nice." He once again got ready to fire. The teenager leaned forwards so that the gun was pressing against his forehead, but he started to tremble. His hands clawed the floor beneath him and he grit his teeth. His breathing started to get uneasy and soon enough he was quietly hyperventilating. Smoke blankly stared down at him and knew that deep down the teenager was afraid to die, which did not surprise him one bit.

"What are you waiting for...?" the teen wavered. His voice cracked slightly; he sounded like he was desperately holding back tears. He was clearly not happy with being made to wait like this as he shot a glare up at Smoke, tears leaking from his eyes. "Shoot me already!"

Smoke stared at him still, watching as the younger male looked down again in fear. He frowned before letting out what sounded like an irritated sigh before lowering his gun. This surprised both the infected teen and Ginger.

"Smoke, what are you doing?" the woman asked. "Our mission was to kill Wesker's experiment and leave. You know we can't spare him."

"We received our orders believing that we were going to be dealing with a hostile zombie," Smoke pointed out, "not a kid."

"But what are we supposed to tell our boss?" Ginger queried.

Smoke slipped his handgun back into his holster and took out a cigarette and a lighter. He lit the cigarette casually and inhaled, responding to his associate after blowing out the smoke.

"We're gonna take him alive," he explained. "The boss may find something for this kid to do."

"He's infected with the Veronica-virus," Ginger reminded. "We can't risk causing an outbreak... Besides, it might be better to put him out of his misery."

"I'm a guy who likes to take risks, Ginger," Smoke admitted. "Pass me some of your bandages, will you? We need to treat those wounds as best as we can so that he's not bleeding all over the helicopter."

Hesitantly Ginger took out a roll of bandages from her pocket, shoving it into Smoke's hand. Smoke started to wrap the wound to the teen's shoulder; the wounds could be properly seen to later if this boy was officially spared. The teenager grimaced but did not complain, though he didn't thank Smoke for his actions, either. He was too confused; again, Smoke could understand that.

"...What's going on...?" the red-haired teen eventually decided to ask. "Who are you guys, anyway...? You're not gonna take me back to Wesker, are you...?"

"No," Smoke assured as he finished treating the first bullet wound. "The truth is we aren't too fond of Umbrella, and when we heard that Wesker had reanimated a virus host's corpse we thought it was best to destroy it."

"...He was using me for samples," the boy recalled. "I don't think he revived me intentionally..."

"Well, he certainly can't be too happy with you if you were left here," Smoke admitted, moving on to treat the teen's leg injury.

"He tried to keep me under control," the youth explained. "He wanted to make me into a monster again..."

Smoke raised his eyebrow once again with curiosity. "Again?" he asked. He could see the young male almost flinch at the question.

"...I don't wanna talk about it," he muttered. "I just..."

The virused being suddenly buried his face in his hands. "It's not fair!" he cried. "None of this is fair! I never asked to be like this! I never asked for _any_ of this!"

Smoke seemed really intrigued now, but did not ask any questions. Instead he just finished treating the teenager's leg before firmly grasping his chin, tilting his head up so that the boy was staring at him.

"Nobody ever asks for things like this, kid," he stated. "Listen; if you're that disgusted with yourself then I'm still up for shooting you. Just go ahead and say that you wanna die."

The boy widened his eyes. At first he thought Smoke was joking, but he looked deadly serious. While he wished he had never come back to life like this he knew that it was actually somewhat better than death, so he slowly shook his head.

"That's what I thought," Smoke reacted before standing up to his full height. "Ginger, tell Duke that we need to make space for an injured third passenger."

Ginger, still completely frustrated with Smoke's change of plans, stormed out of the training facility. Smoke then bent down and lifted up the injured male, holding him as if he was an oversized baby. Golden eyes were fixed upon his visage.

"If my boss agrees to spare your life, we want to know everything," the older male clarified. "Any information you know of regarding Umbrella or anything else that could be useful, maybe even a thing or two about your revival."

The teen stared up at his face for a moment before clenching his fists, a scowl appearing on his face. "If... If you guys are against Umbrella then I'll tell you everything I can..." he assured. Smoke glanced down at the boy as he walked, somewhat surprised for once by his words; despite being an Umbrella experiment he sounded desperate to shut the organization down.

"You know, you seem like a good kid," Smoke admitted after a short silence. "You can call me Smoke, and my comrade you just met is known as Ginger."

The teen slowly nodded his head, absorbing the names before realising that he had not told Smoke his own name. "Oh... right..." he muttered awkwardly.

"My name's Steve. Steve Burnside."


	3. FILE 02

**~FILE 02~**

Smoke carried Steve all the way back to the helicopter, seeing that Ginger was already seated and Duke, the pilot, was ready to take off. He climbed inside, sitting Steve in the spare seat beside Ginger. Ginger seemed disgusted by his presence, looking away to the side and making sure to avoid communication with him.

"Put these on," Smoke said to Steve over the noise, handing him a headset. Steve took it and stared at it for a second before placing it upon his head, covering his ears and positioning the microphone just in front of his mouth.

"It makes communication easier and blocks out the noise," Smoke explained. Steve nodded his head, but didn't say anything in response. He had nothing to say.

In fact, nobody spoke. The helicopter ride remained silent yet incredibly tense. Every now and then the helicopter would shake, but nobody saw it is a big deal - aside from Steve, who wasn't used to travelling by helicopter. But in a matter of moments Steve's discomfort and inner panic was shared by the other three in the vehicle, for the heavy rain had obscured Duke's vision and the turbulance was too much to handle, with the strong winds violently abusing the helicopter.

"Shit!" Smoke cursed as he held onto the handle by his seat, seeing that both Giner and Steve proceeded to do the same.

"Brace yourselves!" Duke could be heard yelling. "We're going down!"

Flying back was obviously much more difficult since the wind direction on the way to Rockfort Island wasn't much of an issue, but this time it caused the rain to cover the windscreen and ended up causing the helicopter to lose control. The vehicle span to its doom as everyone inside prepared for the worst: death.

Everything went black. Everything was silent.

Surely death had consumed them all.

 _"Smoke?!"_

No... something could be heard.

 _"Smoke!"_

Something could be seen.

Vision was blurred at first...

"Smoke!"

Smoke opened his eyes fully and sat himself up. Ginger was violently shaking him to wake him up, afraid that her comrade was dead, only to be flooded with relief upon seeing that he was conscious.

"Oh, thank goodness..." she sighed to herself.

The male mercenary staggered up to his feet and looked around. A beach. They had crashed by a beach. Well, a beach with the tide in. Currently they stood upon a grassy hill, though the remains of the helicopter were practically in the sea, implying that Ginger must have dragged everyone away from the water.

Steve sat further away from the group, tending to his own wounds. He was too cautious to let anyone come into contact with this much of his blood; as a virus carrier he didn't want to risk infecting anybody.

Duke, however, lay lifeless. Smoke approached him and knelt down, attempting to feel a pulse in his wrist. Nothing. Nothing but a cold, damp body.

"He's gone," Ginger said as she stood up, trying to remain tough despite sounding somewhat disturbed. "I tried to save him but... he's gone."

"...You did what you could," Smoke comforted. "Come on; the least we can do for him now is bury him."

Ginger looked over at him before nodding slowly in agreement. Her dark blue eyes locked onto Steve. "You. Help us bury him," she commanded. The teen glanced over at her, still in the process of tending to his wounds. He knew that he couldn't say no to the woman who quite clearly wanted him dead, so pushed himself up off the ground and traipsed over to the others.

The trio worked together to dig a hole in the ground, the task not being too difficult considering that the surface was mainly sand. But as they began to cover up Duke's corpse, Steve stopped moving. He froze in place, golden eyes wide and fixed onto the body. He remained that way, on all fours, as he stared at Duke's lifeless form as if it was some amazing archaeological discovery. The other two didn't seem to notice his lack of movement for a moment until Smoke realised that only four hands were covering Duke up with sand. Smoke raised his eyebrow before nudging Steve's shoulder.

"Hey," he said. Steve's body jolted as if he had been startled by something, snapping out of whatever trance he was in. He stared at Smoke silently before he glanced downwards.

"...Sorry," he murmured. "I don't know what just happened..." The boy continued to help bury the deceased man. Smoke stared at him blankly for a short while, suspicious of Steve's behaviour, until he also continued to cover Duke with sand.

 _ **May 26th 2000**_

 _ **-Location: South American Coastline-**_

It was currently the early hours of morning - 1 AM - and the three survivors of the helicopter crash were sat by Duke's grave, which was marked only by a few large stones in the shape of a Christian cross. Steve was once again sat slightly further away while he finished treating his wounds, with Smoke and Ginger sat close beside each other as they did the same. Ginger had sustained the least amount of injuries, but Smoke was not quite as lucky. Currently Ginger was wrapping a bandage around his head, silently worried that her work partner had concussion.

After a while, Smoke gently shoved Ginger's hand away. "I'll be alright," he assured quietly. Ginger didn't seem too convinced.

"Are you sure?" she questioned.

"Yeah," Smoke replied before grunting softly as he stood himself up.

"Hey, where are you going?" Ginger asked him.

"We can't just sit here," Smoke stated. "We all lost our phones in the crash so we can't contact Chain HQ. It may be pointless but we should at least look for some resources and possibly a way to get back to base."

"Can't we just wait for a passing ship and signal it over with a fire?" Ginger queried.

"No," Smoke answered, almost chuckling. "We're not stranded on an island. All we need to do is reach an airport or something. Passing ships are on a fixed course; besides, you don't know who you're catching the attention of when you send off smoke signals."

Ginger looked down slightly. "I suppose," she agreed.

Smoke began to walk in the forest just ahead. "We can't walk along the beach due to the weather," he confirmed. "But if we walk along the outskirts of this forest we should be able to find civilization."

"And if we don't?" pressed Ginger. Her companion shrugged his shoulders.

"Then we go back to your idea with the fire," he said, sounding somewhat sarcastic. Ginger sensed his sarcasm in his tone and frowned before following.

"Come along, zombie-boy," she called out to Steve. Steve flinched at the insult and was still for a moment, feeling almost upset by the comment, until he quickly hopped up onto his feet and followed the pair. There was no point in snapping; these two were supposed to kill him yet they hadn't, so it probably wasn't the best idea to agitate them. They could easily turn around and shoot him.

The walk was silent. Steve trailed behind deliberately while Smoke and Ginger were closer together. He just didn't want to be near them. Or anybody. He knew what he was. A monster. A freak. His dark veins, sickly skin tone and golden eyes said it all, not to mention he was currently wearing the clothes of a dead prison inmate...

He could see his vision blurring for some reason. Was he tired? No, he can't have been. Even if he was, tiredness shouldn't affect him the way it was affecting him now. Why was everything going blurry? His eyes were glazing as he stared thoughtfully at his hands...

"Steve," he suddenly heard Smoke call out to him. This snapped the teen out of his thoughts and he sharply looked up ahead to stare at the other male, vision now clear. Smoke wasn't facing him as he walked, but he was quite clearly talking to him.

"Stop falling behind," he said simply.

"...Sorry," Steve apologized, walking a little faster to catch up to the two mercenaries.

Smoke glanced back and saw that Steve was still not too close. Clearly he was doing everything he could to avoid being near the other two humans. Smoke could understand his reasons, but a part of him was uncomfortable with this.

Suddenly, after a few more minutes of walking, Smoke came to a halt. Seeing this, Ginger did the same.

"...Smoke?" she reacted, cocking her head to the side oddly.

"Look," Smoke responded. He didn't make any gestures at all, but his dark green eyes were locked onto an abandoned car in the forest they were walking beside. Ginger followed his gaze and stared at the vehicle before looking back at her associate.

"That's just an abandoned car," she described. "There's probably a lot of those around here..."

"So you say," Smoke mumbled as he approached the car. Ginger frowned and followed him.

"Smoke..." she uttered. The older mercernary seemed to ignore her as he began investigating the car with her simply standing there and watching him. Steve was just watching them from afar, having not even entered the forest.

The driver's door of the car was open and blood was smeered on the window and windscreen.

"This is no abandoned car," Smoke acknowledged. "Something ain't right here..."

Steve could see the concern in Smoke's expression from where he was standing, so finally decided to walk closer to the pair despite his preference for isolation.

"What's going on...?" he asked quietly. Both Smoke and Ginger looked over at him before Smoke frowned suspiciously, glancing around cautiously at his surroundings.

"Something's here," the man announced. He reacher slowly down to his holster and was relieved to find that he still had his handgun should he require it.

He eyed his surroundings very carefully...

...Nothing.

He was frozen in place for a moment, but just as he was beginning to let his guard down something threw itself from the bushes.

A man.

No...

It was no man.

It was a zombie.

Ginger gasped loudly at the sight. "Smoke, look out!" she yelled, whipping out her own handgun before firing rapidly at the staggering beast. Slowly the possessed body turned its head and began dragging itself towards her, arms forward. Ginger had never seen anything like this before, but Smoke had.

But the one who had the most experience with zombies was Steve. His eyes were as wide as they could be as he stood there trembling.

"No..." he murmured to himself.

As the zombie collapsed, Ginger was not given much rest. She caught sight of other zombies staggering towards the trio, so she ran over and stood back-to-back with Smoke. Both mercenaries watched the zombies cautiously, trying to choose a target to shoot at first; they both knew that it was wise to go for the zombies closest to them.

However, Smoke was mildly distracted. He had his eyes on the zombie which was closest to him but caught sight of Steve standing frozen in fear.

"Steve!" the older male shouted. "Don't let them bite you!"

Coming to think of it, would Steve actually turn like an ordinary human? He was already a walking corpse, so maybe he was immune to whatever virus these zombies were infected by. But Smoke knew that it wasn't worth taking that kind of risk, even though he was a man who made difficult decisions.

Steve was stepping back ever so slowly from one zombie who approached him. His haunting eyes locked onto the empty expression of his predator, and suddenly he found himself wailing.

"I can't!" he howled. "I can't do this! Not again!" Too many memories were brought up for him, and not just his memories on Rockfort Island, either. Events before and after those flooded into his mind. Too much hit him all at once, and out of complete fear he ran. He ran further into the forest without even realising it.

"Steve!" Smoke called out, sounding both concerned and angered. Knowing that the teen was probably too lost in his own thoughts to respond, Smoke chose to focus on killing the other zombies. He fired five rounds at one before reloading, listening as Ginger fired mercilessly at the zombies on her side. Smoke shot zombie after zombie, though he was running low on ammo.

Thankfully, much to his luck, the zombies were all soon dead for good. Smoke made one final check by stomping on the head of one which may or may not have twitched.

"That's all of 'em," Ginger confirmed, looking worn out and shocked. She knew zombies existed, but fighting ones like this was new to her; she had never encountered a mindless one before.

"Yeah," Smoke responded. "But there's one more walking corpse we need to find." Obviously Smoke was referring to Steve as he started walking deeper into the forest.

"Hey!" Ginger exclaimed. "Are you sure you wanna go in there? We're supposed to stick to the outskirts like you said-"

"The kid's still in there," Smoke reminded. "You can stick to the outskirts if you really wanna, Ginger, but I'm gonna go look for him." With that Smoke began to walk through the vegetation and into the green darkness. Ginger watched him, speechless. For a moment she glanced back at the safe outskirts of the forest but decided that she could not abandon her partner. So the young woman jogged after him as they ventured into the unknown in search of Steve.


	4. FILE 03

**-FILE 03-**

Running further into the forest, Smoke was relieved that he hadn't run into anymore zombies. He was curious as to where they may have come from, but he had to focus on finding Steve first. The teenager didn't have any weapons and was injured, and Smoke didn't even want to begin imagining what could happen to someone like him if he fell victim to another virus - it could result in a hideous monster being created.

Ginger kept up with Smoke, though she was evidently more cautious. She kept her gun raised and her blue eyes were peeled for any movement. Smoke trusted that she would keep her eyes on the surrounding area for any potential threats, so he kept his focus on looking for the missing teenager.

"Where do you think he could be?" Ginger eventually asked, still not losing focus.

"Anywhere," Smoke answered blatantly. "If we're lucky we won't bump into anymore of those zombies, and hopefully neither will Steve."

While it was peaceful now Ginger knew that Smoke was using the word "lucky" in a very wishful manner. There would definitely be more zombies around somewhere.

"Smoke," Ginger spoke up, stopping in her tracks. Noticing that she was no longer walking, Smoke did the same.

"What's the matter?" he asked.

"Look over there," Ginger pointed. Smoke's eyes followed her gesture. He had to squint in order to see ahead but he was quickly able to make out a wall. Curiously the duo approached, noting that the wall was not ancient. It was somewhat recent. Absentmindedly Smoke placed his hand on the stone, looking upwards as the wall seemed to tower over him.

"There must be a gate or something," he declared. "The wall's too tall to climb over..."

"What do you suppose is on the other side?" Ginger queried out of curiosity.

"Probably something we're not supposed to see," Smoke guessed. "Now c'mon, let's find the entrance."

Ginger reluctantly followed Smoke as the pair strolled by the wall. Again Ginger was the one who kept her eyes peeled as Smoke's eyes remained fixes on the wall; no zombies were spotted, and eventually a large iron gate was discovered. Upon seeing the logo on the metal, Smoke glowered.

"Umbrella..." he rasped.

"Umbrella?" Ginger repeated. "...That's not a good sign, Smoke; we should probably leave."

"The gate's open," Smoke pointed out, completely ignoring Ginger's statement.

"Smoke!" Ginger said louder, trying to get her partner's attention. Smoke snapped his head in her direction.

"Steve probably went this way," he told her. "Come on." The brown-haired male pushed the gate open a little more and ran - if Steve did go through the gate he obviously slid through the very thin gap or attempted to close the gate behind him.

"But what if he didn't?!" Ginger called out to her comrade as she ran after him, catching up easily.

"Then we will go back out and look for him after we see what we find," Smoke answered. "If there's a facility ahead then there may still be a working computer and supplies which we can use."

"What if people are still here?" Ginger questioned. "We may be walking to our deaths."

"I know Umbrella well enough to know that they aren't stupid enough to have such shitty security on their perimeters," Smoke assured. "This place has been abandoned, and judging by the fact that we were just ambushed by zombies I can understand why."

The landscape they ran through was no different to the forest beyond the wall, though it was clear that quite a few trees had been cut down. Up ahead there was a larger cluster of trees, and Smoke almost lightened up when he realised that behind those trees was exactly what he wanted to find: an abandoned Umbrella research facility.

"Bingo," Smoke muttered to himself as he slowed down to a jog before finally slowing down to a walk. The man then came to a stop as he gazed up at the impressive, drab and intimidating structure. Ginger did the same, her eyes gleaming with some kind of morbid wonder.

Slowly Smoke approached the main entrance. The door was a heavy one which required a key card to pass, but it was not closed all the way. Smoke slid his fingers through the narrow gap and heaved the door open; clearly there was no power going to this door anymore. Perhaps the whole building was without power, but Smoke knew that there was most likely a backup generator somewhere.

A chill ran down Ginger's spine, though she was very quick to shrug it off. There was just something eerie about looking into nothing but darkness beyond this door. She could see that even Smoke looked a little bit tense, but he was brave enough to step forward, albeit cautiously. Ginger followed, still with her gun at the ready in case there were any zombies lurking in the shadows. It was a relief to see that she wasn't the only one being so paranoid as Smoke also raised his gun as he stepped carefully into the building.

"It's too dark to see anything," the male muttered quietly to his female companion. "We should look for a flashlight or something." Usually the pair had flashlights, but again the torches were lost in the helicopter crash. Even if they did still have their flashlights they would most likely be damaged from the water which had entered the helicopter at the time.

"I don't think it'll be easy to find a flashlight in a place like this," Ginger thought out loud.

"You're right," Smoke agreed. Ginger jolted when she heard the sound of a drawer being opened up ahead. Then, something was thrown to her feet. She aimed her gun downwards in a panic, but realised that the object was inanimate and nothing to fear. The fiery-haired woman crouched down and picked up waht appeared to be night vision goggles.

"But fortunately for us this is an Umbrella facility," Smoke continued, switching on the pair that he had found for himself. A very slight smile was on his face as he watched Ginger fumble around for a bit before successfully placing on and activating the goggles he had given her. Ginger looked at him and saw that he was in a corner of closets and filing cabinets.

"Is anything else over there?" she asked curiously, marching over.

"Just different uniforms," Smoke answered. "No weapons or anything. But I did find a few boxes of ammo." Smoke threw a few boxes of ammo to Ginger, hoping that she was able to carry them all while he also carried a small number of them. Ginger picked up the three boxes and stored them on her persons. Smoke waited for her to finish before nodding his head: "Let's get going."

The duo made their way up the stairs. There was an elevator, of course, but it wasn't going to work with the power out. The pair knew that it was best to investigate floor by floor.

The first floor was probably going to be no different to the other floors; it was a research area, and that really did not come to surprise either mercenary. The silent atmosphere was almost chilling, but at least it was easy to listen out for potential threats drawing near. At the same time, the slightest noise was enough to startle either of the two.

Together Smoke and Ginger walked through the corridors, only hearing the sounds of each other stepping and breathing. Ginger attempted to enter one of the laboratories, but the door was shut and could not be opened even manually due to its design. She decided that the other doors must have been the same, so continued to remain close to her partner.

"Do you think this place has a backup generator?" she then asked, keeping her voice down.

"Of course it does," Smoke replied with the same softness, secretly pleased that Ginger was having the same thoughts as him. "It may be located downstairs on the lowest floor, but it could be anywhere. Knowing Umbrella they probably installed it on the roof of this building; and that's where we're heading. Hopefully."

The team of two found the next stairwell and headed up it, only to find a near-exact replica of the floor they just explored. They repeated this process a few more times before finally reaching the staircase which led to the rooftop.

Ginger headed up to the door, only to find that it was physically locked. "Damn it," she cursed.

"Move aside," Smoke responded calmly, gently pushing his partner back. He shot the lock a few times before kicking the door, causing it to swing open.

To his delight the backup generator was right where he said it would be. The green-eyed man ran over to it and inspected it for a moment, searching for a switch. He searched high and low until he was finally able to find the switch connected to the generator, so he grasped it firmly and pulled. Clearly the switch hadn't been pulled in a long time as it was relatively stiff, but Smoke was able to successfully activate the backup generator.

"Great," Ginger praised briefly, removing her night-vision goggles. "Let's get back down there and see if we can find anything useful; there must be a working computer for us to use to contact Chain HQ." With that the woman ran back to the stairwell, followed by her comrade as the pair descended back into the building.

A groaning sound was heard as the pair descended. "Do you hear that?" Smoke whispered quietly, gun once again at the ready.

"Yeah," Ginger answered. She turned a corner and almost jumped when she found herself face-to-face with a rotting corpse wearing a torn lab coat. She yelped and wrestled the walking body before it could sink its teeth into the flesh of her neck, but before she could shove it away Smoke put a bullet through its head.

"There's more of 'em up ahead," he informed her. "Look!"

Ginger stared ahead in shock but aimed her handgun. "Well, these guys can't be dealt with peacefully," she muttered before opening fire onto the small crowd of scientist zombies shuffling towards them.

"We don't wanna waste all our bullets on these guys in case there's something else lurking within this place," Smoke reminded. "Umbrella are notorious for creating abominations."

"I don't wanna imagine what else we could encounter," Ginger admitted as she ran ahead, pushing past the crowd of zombies in the corridor and making sure to dodge their attempts to grab or bite her. Smoke did the same until the pair both reached the elevator, sprinting inside and pressing the button which took them to the lowest level. One zombie attempted to stagger into the elevator, extending its arm forward as if it was trying to stop the doors from closing. Its efforts were wasted, however, as the rotting flesh was easily crushed and the arm was amputated from the body, flopping limply onto the elevator's floor. Ginger looked disgusted but was quick to brush off the feeling while Smoke didn't seem to care for the appendage whatsoever.

Quietly and almost peacefully the elevator was sent to the lowest floor of the facility, the soft hum being the only sound audible until the ride came to an end and the doors slid open. The two humans were confronted by a horde of walking corpses which moved so sluggishly. They seemed to just be aimlessly wandering until they smelt the fresh blood entering the area, glowing eyes all on the duo. With their arms extended forwards they began to drag themselves towards their potentially cornered prey.

"Shit!" Smoke rasped, reloading his gun. He began to fire relentlessly at the crowd, his actions mimicked by his comrade. The zombies swarmed towards them and they knew that they couldn't continue to fight them like this, so once they had killed a fair few the pair decided to make a run for it. They barged past the zombies once more, shoving them into each other and knocking them to the floor. The two sprinted through the narrow corridor to get away from the mass of rotting bodies, but they knew they were not safe just yet. Zombies still stood swaying in the corridor so the duo had to avoid them at all costs.

"Where do we go?!" shouted Ginger. "Should we go into one of the laboratories?!"

Before Smoke could make his answer, a yell was heard further down the corridor.

"What was that?!" Ginger gasped.

"Someone's alive down here!" Smoke answered, picking up his pace. "Come on!"

Ginger followed her experienced associate as they turned a corner in the dull corridor and began firing at the three zombies which stood blocking their way. When they fell the pair saw a teen trying to ward off some zombies by only using his fists, though clearly he was in a struggle as he flinched everytime the zombie being held back by his fists gnashed its teeth at him.

"Watch out!" Smoke yelled as he came to a halt and aimed at the zombie's head, making sure not to shoot the boy as he fired. The zombie went down with one bullet, giving Smoke the chance to run over to the teenager. Ginger dealt with the other zombies before stepping over the two, though she watched the corridor carefully.

"You okay, kid?" Smoke asked quickly, holding the teen by his shoulders. The boy flinched before looking up at Smoke, studying his face before tilting his head to the side strangely as he gave his answer.

"Yeah..." he huffed tiredly.

"Good," Smoke said, letting go of his shoulders. "What're you doing in a place like this?"

"The zombies..." the teen replied as he caught his breath. "They were everywhere... This place seemed like a cool place to hide... I don't think I was the only one who thought that, either; th-there are others who came to hide, I'm sure of it..."

"Wait... were you out in that forest?" Smoke interrogated. "What would someone like you be doing in a forest at this hour?"

"The town I live in is full of zombies," the young male explained. "It's not far away from here."

"A whole town...?" Smoke muttered to himself.

"Guys, we don't have time for this!" Ginger exclaimed as she watched a group of zombies drag themselves towards them. "We've gotta move! Now!"

"Let's go," Smoke said almost calmly as he started running, urging the teenager to run with them.

Having examined the teen Smoke noticed that he had long blond hair which only just went past the length of his shoulders, his fringe also close to covering his eyes. He wore a black cotton shirt with long, rolled-up sleeves and navy jeans. Smoke also noticed a black choker around the pale teenager's neck, and lastly he noted his extremely youthful brown eyes. If Smoke had to guess he would say that this boy was roughly around Steve's age. _'Those two could get along,'_ he jokingly thought to himself as he ran.

While Steve was on his mind Smoke thought that it would be best to question the newest party member and see if he had caught sight of him anywhere.

"Hey, kid," he said. "You haven't seen a red-haired teen anywhere, have you?"

"No," the boy answered. "But I heard somebody run in not long before you guys arrived."

"That might've been him," Smoke deduced. "We need to look around the entire building until we find him."

"YAGH! Get away from me!"

Smoke's eyes widened slightly. "Steve!" he gasped, but not too loudly. "He's down here; I think he's ahead somewhere!"

"We need to reach him before it's too late!" Ginger added.

"We will," Smoke assured with confidence before glancing to look at the boy now accompanying him and Ginger. "You. What's your name?"

"Wesley," the boy responded. "Or Wes for short."

"Alright, Wesley," Smoke said. "I'm Smoke and my partner here is Ginger. You've gotta stick with us if you wanna make it out alive; no running off or funny business - we've had enough of that from Steve already."

"I-I'll stick by you," Wesley told him. "I promise."

"Good," Smoke grumbled.


	5. FILE 04

**-FILE 04-**

Running through the narrow and dark corridors, the group of three pushed past zombies and barged through an iron door together. It was lucky for them that the door was unlocked, but then again all doors seemed to be open now that the power was back on. It seemed almost like some kind of flaw in the system, since even the cell and lab doors were open, meaning that subjects and potentially prisoners could escape during power outs and power recovery. Perhaps an event like this is what caused this facility to meet its bitter end.

Through the door the trio found themselves in a ventilation room filled with pipes and valves. Of course, this room was still not free of zombies as bodies wearing plumber clothing heaved their bodies towards the newcomers. Immediately Smoke and Ginger opened fire, but when the crowd of zombies before them fell to the ground another zombie could be seen fighting off the rest with his bare fists.

Wait, that wasn't a zombie. It was Steve.

"Steve, move!" Smoke snapped as he started shooting at the other living corpses, being careful not to shoot Steve in the process. Steve threw himself to the floor to avoid any stray bullets, hands on the back of his head as he waited for the monsters around him to collapse. A "thud" would signal to him that a body had fallen, and after hearing that sound enough times and hearing the chorus of groaning come to an end, Steve slowly lifted his head and opened his eyes.

Smoke marched over to the boy and bent down, clasping his hand around his forearm and yanking him back up to his feet. "Don't run off again," he commanded in a calm yet threatening tone. He let go of the young teen and turned to face Ginger and Wesley.

"Alright. Now we can get outta this hellhole," he confirmed, turning on his heel and running as fast as he could through the doors and into the elevator. Ginger, Steve and Wesley were quick to join him, so the group returned to the ground level where the exit of the facility was.

It didn't surprise them when they were met with yet another horde of zombies, but the team of four decided to just shove their way past. They were able to make their way to the exit with ease, pressing a button to fully open the door before sprinting outside. To make sure that no zombies followed them, Ginger pressed the button on the outside wall to then close the door.

For now the group had come to a stop, taking a brief break.

"Alright, so clearly something went wrong in that facility," Smoke deduced. "But whatever happened here has affected other nearby areas." The man turned to face Wesley, who immediately stood to attention as if he was in the military or something. "You," he began. "You said that your town is also full of zombies. Can you take us there?"

The blonde teen looked incredibly nervous. "Um..." he responded, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. "Sure, I guess."

"Who is this guy?" Steve decided to ask, his head tilted. He hadn't been introduced to him properly yet.

"His name's Wesley," Smoke answered. "He was hiding in that facility, the same as you."

"Huh," Steve responded. His monstrous eyes were on the other boy for a moment before he just decided to let his mind wander.

"Alright, Wesley," Smoke said to the newest group member. "Lead the way." Wesley nodded his head and started walking, the trio following close behind.

"Hey," Ginger spoke up to her partner, walking close beside him. "What makes you think that this is a good idea? Shouldn't we be focusing on getting back to HQ?"

"If we head to the city we'll have a better chance of finding a way of contacting Chain HQ," Smoke told her.

"We could run out of ammo," Ginger reminded him. "Our handguns may not be strong enough to take down other monsters we might find in the city."

"There'll be some other weapons lying around," Smoke assured. "The cops would've dropped them after turning, or we could just bust into a store that may sell weapons and take what we need."

"Without paying, I'm assuming?" Ginger asked, seeing her partner nod in response with a slight smile on his face.

 _ **May 26th 2000**_

 _ **-Location: Ciudad de San Blanco-**_

"Here we are," Wesley spoke up as they arrived at the town's outskirts just by a road sign. Smoke took in the town's name, but found himself looking at the familiar Umbrella logo located on the sign.

"Huh... Looks like Umbrella were pretty big here, too," the man muttered.

"Yeah," Wesley nodded, no clear emotion in his voice. He just sounded casual. "This town was owned by the company. Originally it was a small place home to some of the workers, but then it grew and became inhabited by all kinds of people."

"And now it's inhabited by zombies," Smoke finished for him. "Steve, we might've found the perfect place for you to live."

"Very funny," Steve growled, clearly not amused by the remark.

Smoke turned his attention back to Wesley, returning to being a little more serious. "How many of you were able to get away?" he asked. Wesley shook his head in response.

"I'm not sure," he admitted. "Nobody got away with me, but I don't think I'm the only survivor."

Smoke stared at Wesley for a moment before tilting his head curiously. "How is it that you were able to get away?" he queried.

Wesley shrugged his shoulders. "I just ran," he replied nonchalently. "I woke up a few hours ago and saw that the town was in chaos, so I ran."

"Did you not have any friends on your mind?" Smoke interrogated. "What about your family?"

The boy visibly tensed up a little, the subject seeming to make him uncomfortable, before he smiled nervously and scratched the back of his head again.

"I don't really have a family," he confessed.

Smoke glanced at him, giving him a thoughtful and almost sympathetic stare before looking away. "I see," he replied quietly, not wanting to say anything else. He also understood that he shouldn't question him for details, but he was willing to listen if Wesley did start talking.

When a brief silence followed Smoke's response, the mercenary decided to speak up once again. "Well, there's no point in just hanging around out here," he stated. "Let's see what the town has in store for us."

"Smoke," Ginger called out, marching over to him. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

Smoke thought about it for a second before giving his answer. "It's better than just waiting on the beach until we starve to death."

And with that, he started to walk into the town itself. Ginger followed him hesitantly, and behind her came Steve and Wesley. Wesley appeared to be the most nervous, which was understandable since he seemed to be just a regular young civilian. Smoke noted that he'd have to learn to use a gun pretty quickly if he wanted to survive, and as for Steve he assumed that he'd have no problem if he had a gun. While previously Steve demonstrated his skill to fight without firearms it was probably safer for him to do so when faced with a crowd of flesh-seeking zombies.

Zombies were just staggering around absentmindedly in the streets, and as soon as they caught the scent of living flesh they were immediately attracted to the group. Smoke only fired at a corpse if it came too close, but he was doing best to save his ammo. At the same time the team leader was looking out for a place where they could find weapons, but at the moment there had been no luck.

"Look out for any weapons stores or something," Smoke told his crew. "We'll look for a place to contact Chain HQ from after we're all armed with some sort of gun."

Still, the group seemed to have no luck for quite some time. They were just running through the streets, doing their best to avoid any of the reanimated corpses so that they could save their ammo. Every now and then they had no choice but to open fire if any zombies came too close, but thankfully this wasn't a frequent occurrence.

Eventually, after wandering the streets for a good five minutes or so, Wesley pointed down a small backstreet. "That way!" he pointed. "There's a military store which sells weapons and other stuff like ammo and gear! I used to pass it whenever I decided to take long walks through the streets!"

"You sure you're right about that?" Smoke queried, well aware that zombies were slowly shuffling towards them with their mouths hung open and arms extended in front of them.

"I'm sure!" Wesley confirmed. "C'mon, we should hurry!" The blond-haired boy sprinted through down the narrow street, leaving the other three with no choice but to follow him.

It was a relief that no zombies blocked their way this time, though there was a lifeless body slumped against the wall. Each member of the small group were aware that the body could spring to life at any moment so they each stepped by it with cautious. Thankfully the body remained limp, and once the group walked a little further they reached the small and hidden shop Wesley was talking about.

"Huh," Smoke reacted upon seeing it still intact. He was mainly just surprised that Wesley had been right about the store's location, and he was also pleased to see, through the window, that this place sold exactly what Wesley had described. The fact that it was untouched was definitely a bonus.

Ginger marched up to the window and held her handgun by the barrel, smashing the handle as hard as she could against the glass. At first she only caused a large crack, so she proceeded to hit the same spot over and over again until the glass shattered. An alarm went off as soon as Ginger forced her way through the window and lifted the shutters, but she paid no attention to it. If the police responded to this then they would discover a worse problem to deal with first.

"Everyone grab anything you can," Smoke ordered. "Weapons. Ammo. Find any first aid kits or something, if you can, and grab a backpack to carry it all."

Wesley seemed to be the one with the most excitement while picking a weapon, which was somewhat understandable. The youth of today were into video games about war and violence and zombies, and as a naive civilian he probably found all of this quite interesting. Soon enough he would only discover the horrors of war and monsters, but for now nobody felt like bursting his little bubble of innocence.

Steve was near the other teen, minding his own business as he picked his own weapons. From experience he already had a preference: dual guns, specifically sub-machine guns. Guns like that seemed to be harder to find, so the revived teen hopped over the store counter. Wesley couldn't help but watch Steve since he was near him, tempted to speak to the other young male. After all, if he was going to be stuck fighting zombies and other monsters until Smoke and Ginger contacted their superiors he would at least want to get to know the other guy who had seemingly been dragged along as a simple survivor.

But Wesley's thought process soon changed. He finally understood Smoke previous remark to the red-head regarding zombies and "finding the perfect place for him to live".

Steve had turned around as he was about to open a glass cabinet behind the counter, catching Wesley staring at him in the reflection. He had turned to face the floppy-haired male, but due to how close he was Wesley was finally able to see Steve's eyes. Golden. Trimmed with red. Pupils slit in a way which made his eyes seem cat-like or reptilian.

Immediately Wesley jumped, stepping back slightly in surprise as he felt his blood practically draining from his face. Not only did Steve have terrifying eyes, but his skin was pale. Unnaturally pale. It almost had a greenish tint to it; green or grey, it seemed to be a mixture of both. Down his neck Wesley spotted those dark, thick veins; they probably could be concealed, but since Steve was wearing a baggy and tattered prison uniform it was difficult for him to successfully do that.

The undead appearance. The filthy clothing. The eyes of a monster.

Steve really _was_ a zombie.

The aforementioned teen frowned upon seeing the fear in Wesley's expression. He simply stared at him for a moment before turning around and proceeding to open the cabinet, examining the weapons now available to him.

"What's the matter?" he asked in a sarky tone as he looked up and down the gun racks. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

Wesley was almost too scared to give an answer. He practically felt his heart stop; there was nothing worse than being caught staring at someone in a negative manner, especially if that person was, well, infected with a deadly virus.

Steve took out two submachine guns and loaded them before turning to face Wesley, shrugging his shoulders. "Hello? It was a joke," he revealed in a tone which made it sound as if he was pointing out something obvious. The undead teen hopped back over the counter, causing the other boy to flinch. Steve noticed this and rolled his eyes, making sure to emphasize the gesture enough so that Wesley noticed, before he wandered off the find a bag of some sort for his ammunition.

Smoke was thoughtfully examining the aisle of clothing, rubbing his stubbly chin absentmindedly before quickly deciding that he did not need a new attire. However, the older male peeked his head around the shelves and spotted Steve admiring a large backpack.

"Hey," he called out to him, cuasing the teen to turn around. "While you're here you may wanna think about getting some better clothes; those rags are practically hanging off you."

Steve tugged his green shirt thoughtfully, staring at the worn fabric before looking back in Smoke's direction, albeit his eyes were not directly on Smoke.

"Right," he agreed quietly. But first he wanted to get a decent bag or side pack; he didn't want something too large to carry. He decided to take a side pack and two gun holsters which could be strapped around his legs. Once he had claimed these, Steve went over to where Smoke was previously standing and decided to look for some new clothes to wear.

Like Smoke, Ginger didn't feel like she needed a change in gear. Instead she found some ammunition for her handgun and decided to take some grenades which could be attached to her belt. She also decided to take a machine gun which she was able to carry on her back.

The short-haired woman was approached nervously by Wesley, who seemed tempted to tap her on the shoulder but refrained from doing so. "Um... Excuse me?" he asked quietly, sounding rather awkward. Ginger's blue eyes were immediately on the boy as soon as she had turned her head to face him, silently listening to what he had to say.

Wesley's voice was quiet as he continued to talk. "Steve..." he said quietly. "The other guy... Is he um... sick?"

"He's dead," Ginger answered blatantly, turning her whole body around so that she was now directly looking at the teen, her arms firmly folded. Wesley seemed confused by the remark. So Steve actually _was_ a zombie.

"He's a little different from the other zombies you may have encountered," Ginger continued. "Smoke and I were originally sent to terminate him under the impression that he was a dangerous Bio Organic Weapon, but Smoke was the one who decided to spare him. It's strange, really; Smoke's never spared any of his targets."

"I can hear you, ya know!" Steve shouted from one of the two changing booths. He pulled back the curtains, now dressed in combat pants, a dark green vest and a navy blue sleeveless jacket, sporting dog tags simply because he wanted to look a little cooler. The clothes he wore were actually very similar to the ones he wore back when he was in prison, and it was very likely that he was well aware of the resemblance.

"Hey, you'd better watch your attitude, little boy," Ginger warned, pointing a finger at him as if she was scolding a small child.

"Hmph," Steve huffed, walking through the store towards the smashed window. He peeped his head out and looked from left to right before turning to look at the others. "We'd better hurry before those zombies get here; it looks like they know we're in this store."

"I think we're all just about ready to leave," Smoke stated, armed with a shotgun and topped up on ammunition. Ginger folded her arms and nodded in agreement with him, and Wesley did the same; he was holding a single sub-machine gun and not much else.

"Then let's go already!" Steve barked, beginning to clamber through the broken window.

"Don't you start giving us orders!" Ginger snapped at him. "Don't forget that our mission was to terminate you, so we could easily-"

"Ginger," Smoke interrupted calmly to ease the tension. "Enough." He said nothing more as he followed Steve through the window, a cold stare coming from Ginger's blue eyes. She still didn't understand why her partner was being so tolerant; Steve should show some gratitude. But Ginger could not challenge Smoke's command since he was the older and more experienced mercenary of the two, so she decided to keep her thoughts to herself as she followed with Wesley close behind her.

Steve seemed to be walking a little further ahead, keeping his distance as usual, but Smoke deliberately picked up his pace so that he caught up to him.

"Hey, kid," he spoke quietly, immediately seeing the teen tensing up as he walked beside him. "If you don't mind me asking, what do you plan to do with your life?"

The teen frowned slightly, not looking at the older male. "You said that you were gonna take me back to your boss," he reminded. "If your boss ordered you to kill me then they're probably not gonna let someone like me go wandering into the public."

"Imagine that he did," Smoke encouraged. "Imagine that we all just got away and our boss said he was gonna let you go. Is there something you'd do? Something you'd go back to?"

There was a long pause before Steve delivered is uncomfortable answer. "...No."

Liar. Smoke could just smell that lie as if it was a rotting corpse. Well, technically it did indeed come from some kind of corpse, but that was besides the point. However, Smoke knew that he couldn't just call out Steve as a liar; the accusation would make him angry. Instead, he had to figure him out.

"You didn't wanna die when I confronted you on Rockfort Island," he recalled. "You were cowering before my gun. Not only that, but I'm pretty sure you could've killed yourself at any point in the past few months. Why would you continue to live if you have nothing to live for? Trapped alone on an island with no hopes of being accepted back into human society... Surely you have something on your mind."

Each word made Steve feel more and more irritable. He didn't like it when people got personal with him, so instead of answering he decided to walk even faster to keep ahead of Smoke. Smoke decided to just slow down so that he was walking with Ginger and Wesley. While he hadn't learned anything about Steve's motives, he could now understand one thing about the boy: he definitely had something on his mind, and it wasn't just revenge.

"Over there," Wesley suddenly pointed, catching everyone's attention. The pale blond teen was pointing to a rather tall building. "That's an office block; I bet in there you guys could contact your employers or whatever. We could call for help and we'll be safely evacuated!"

"Great," Smoke noted as he began to jog. "Stay close to me! I don't wanna turn around and discover that you three have become mindless creatures, alright?!"

"You've got it!" Wesley answered, his sub-machine gun at the ready. Ginger and Steve were also prepared to take on any zombies they could encounter on the way. Nobody seemed scared this time. Not Steve, the guy who had previously fled a zombie onslaught, and not Wesley, who was the one with the least combat experience in the group.

It looked like everyone was going to make it. They were going to reach the office building, Smoke and Ginger were going to get in contact with Chain HQ and everyone was going to be alright. Everything seemed just fine.

...For now.


End file.
